Self-Continuity Messages and Step-Monitoring to Promote Walking Among Older Adults: Protocol of a 4-Arm Randomised Controlled Trial
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 招募中
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 1,000
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Walking Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up
研究概览
简要总结
Physical inactivity increases substantially after age 60 and represents a major public health challenge in older adults, as it is linked to increased risk of functional and cognitive decline and aging problems. Walking is one of the most accessible and recommended forms of light-to-moderate physical activity for this population. However, promoting sustained engagement in walking remains difficult, as traditional informational approaches often fail to activate personally meaningful motivations.
This study tests whether persuasive affective messages can promote walking by leveraging self-continuity, meaning the use of autobiographical memory to maintain the sense of being the same person across time and contexts, connecting the past, present, and future self. Self-continuity is associated with psychological resources such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a sense of meaning in life. The affective mechanism that sustains self-continuity is nostalgia: both promote emotional and behavioral regulation and support goal achievement. Building on this framework, the present trial examines whether activating feelings of self-continuity and positive nostalgic memories can strengthen older adults' motivation to engage in walking behavior.
In addition, the study investigates whether combining self-continuity messaging with a self-regulation strategy (daily step monitoring) enhances intervention effectiveness. Self-monitoring is a well-established behavioral technique that supports goal pursuit by increasing awareness and feedback.
Using a 4-arm randomised controlled factorial design, the study compares the effects of self-continuity messages, step-monitoring reminders, their combination, and an active control condition on walking behaviour and its psychological determinants.
A national sample of 1,000 Italian adults aged 65-74, recruited through a certified panel provider (Ipsos) and balanced for age, gender, and geographic region, will be randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. All participants will receive one message per day through a mobile application over a 14-day period. Participants in the step-monitoring conditions will also be asked to track and report their daily step count using a pedometer application. Behavioral, psychological, and process measures will be collected at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up.
The study therefore aims to provide experimental evidence on the role of self-continuity as a motivational driver of health behaviour change, and to clarify whether combining affective and self-regulatory strategies enhances intervention effectiveness in older adults.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Factorial
- 主要目的
- Prevention
- 盲法
- Single (Participant)
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 65 Years 至 74 Years（Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Age between 65 and 74 years
- •Willingness and ability to install and use the mobile applications required for study participation
- •Sufficient proficiency in the Italian language to understand study materials and complete the questionnaires.
排除标准
- •- Physical disabilities or medical conditions that preclude engagement in light to moderate physical activity, specifically:
- •medical advice or prescription prohibiting engagement in light to moderate physical activity, assessed via a close-ended screening question;
- •positive screening on a study specific close-ended question assessing ability to perform physical activity;
- •positive screening on the adapted revised Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (rPAR-Q), indicating that participant may be unsafe.
研究组 & 干预措施
Control
Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages about the benefits of recommended daily water intake via the PsyMe app over 14 days.
干预措施: Water intake messages (Behavioral)
Step-monitoring
Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily reminders to monitor and record their step count through a step-tracking application via the PsyMe app over 14 days.
干预措施: Step-monitoring reminders (Behavioral)
Self-continuity + Step-monitoring
Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages via the PsyMe app over 14 days. These messages combine prompts recalling relevant past experiences and promoting walking behavior with reminders to monitor and record their daily step count.
干预措施: Self-continuity prompts (Behavioral)
Self-continuity + Step-monitoring
Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages via the PsyMe app over 14 days. These messages combine prompts recalling relevant past experiences and promoting walking behavior with reminders to monitor and record their daily step count.
干预措施: Step-monitoring reminders (Behavioral)
Self-continuity
Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages via the PsyMe app over 14 days. These messages are designed to prompt recall of personally relevant past experiences and to promote walking behavior.
干预措施: Self-continuity prompts (Behavioral)
结局指标
主要结局
Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Walking Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up
时间窗: Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks
Assessed by International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ). Higher scores (mean daily time spent in walking activities, number of days per week with walking activity, and mean time spent in walking activities multiplied by the number of days per week with walking activity) indicate greater self-reported walking activity over the past week and in a usual week.
Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Walking Intensity at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up
时间窗: Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks
Assessed by International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ). Higher scores indicate greater self-reported walking intensity over the past week and in a usual week, with 3 ordinal response options: slow, moderate, and vigorous intensity.
Change from Baseline in Daily Step Count at 2-Week Post-Intervention as Measured Via Pedometer App
时间窗: Baseline and 2 weeks
Higher self-reported step counts indicate greater walking activity over the past week and in a usual week.
次要结局
- Change from Baseline in Pedometer App Usage and Usage Frequency (Past Week) at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Attitude toward Walking at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Intention to Walk at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Efficacy to Walk at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Anticipated Positive Emotions Toward Walking at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Anticipated Negative Emotions Toward Walking at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Daily Water Intake at 2-Week Post-Intervention(Baseline and 2 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Attitude toward Water Intake at 2-Week Post-Intervention(Baseline and 2 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Intention to Drink Water at 2-Week Post-Intervention(Baseline and 2 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Sedentary Behaviour Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Light Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Moderate Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
- Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Vigorous Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up(Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks)
研究者
Patrizia Catellani
Full Professor
Catholic University, Italy